town and country

Last month roughly 102 million people watched the Super Bowl and 23.6 million tuned in to see the glamour, gowns and winners of the Oscars. Town and Country put out it’s February 2020 edition with the 3rd Annual Jewelry Awards and after the first two events I thought, who is this really reaching, and should the Jewelry Industry think about a different strategy to reach consumers?

I’ve done a more detailed analysis on the last two awards issues here
and here last year. This time I’m going to ask some bigger questions that might
get you thinking about how you want to market your company. Let’s first look at
how Town and Country presented the awards this year.

Town and Country Jewelry Awards

The small mention of the Jewelry Awards on the cover (it gets smaller
every year), had the statement: The right way to spend your money. The first thought I had was investment
pieces, but the pages showed off jewels that lacked a proper description of why
you should spend for these jewels. I was also hoping for more on future
designers but only about a quarter of a page with 4 designers sharing the small
spotlight making it feel more like a passing thought.

T&C February Cover

The Editor’s Letter talked about the Dresden Green diamond that was not part of the crown jewels of Saxony that were stolen on November 25. The diamond was loaned to The Metropolitan Museum for the current exhibit, Making Marvels. The editor talked about how the exhibit embodies the, ‘link between technological innovation and social prestige.’ The hope was that the awards would also show some innovative designs. The pieces were nice but if no one really knows what goes into it or how valuable the materials are then there is not much prestige or social admiration for the wearer. Jewelry is a more of personal object but if you didn’t want others to see it you wouldn’t wear it.

Overall, I don’t think the issue did that great of a job educating the
reading and putting a proper spotlight on the designer. The issue could have
really show cased the process and the person behind the designs. With more
people looking to lab diamonds for their engagement rings, show that these
designers are responsibly sourcing materials and labor would be a plus in
helping diminish the bad reputation the Jewelry Industry gets on mining.

Demographics of different Medias

Looking at other places to advertise the Superbowl 2019 saw 98.2 million viewers 39.95 were between the ages of 18-49. The 2020 age demographics are not in yet, but we can look at this as about 40% of viewers are between 18-49. The Oscars only had 23.6 million viewers and saw a major drop in there 2020 viewership for 18-49-year olds, in 2019 the viewership was 29.6 million. Looking at Town & Country’s media kit, their readership is 638,000 and the median age is 49.7, skewing two-thirds (66%) female.

Why the Jewelry Industry needs to think inside the box

Depending on what you are selling and who you hope to attract, being in
Town & Country if you sell jewelry might be great for you but for the
industry not so much. The Oscars are still good for exposure but with drops in
viewership and the controversy it can bring it doesn’t allow for controlling
your brand as much if you are a designer. The emphasis on reaching younger
consumers the Jewelry Industry needs to look at ways to get people talking more
positively about jewelry and thinking of it more than just a one-off item you
buy for marriage. So why not have a Super bowl ad? I know cost is an issue but
there are other alternatives; YouTube ads that you need the audience’s opinion
on, create a social media campaign that puts couples in the ad or something
else that gets people excited! The focus needs to be how to make jewelry a part
of the wearer’s life so the over used response of, ‘It’s beautiful but where
would I wear it’ comes less into play.

How I can help

If you are looking for ways to reach your audience and need help in
seeing how effective it was then please look me up on Instagram and reach out
to me. As a business analyst with several years of Retail Industry experience
the questions of how to improve reach affect all sizes of businesses. Let me
know your thoughts or questions below and thank you for reading Data in the
Rough!

It’s that time of the year again! The 2nd Annual Town & Country Jewelry Award results are in! I analyzed some pieces of the awards last year and you can read it by clicking the link. I’m not going to go through all those points from last year. I want to only look at one main issue I had with the awards and focus on how the awards have moved forward.

If you are a subscriber to Town & Country magazine you
probably got a cover like this with your magazine last week.

Anne Hathaway in a multi-colored dress with a long rose gold
earring. The rose gold earrings are by Vhernier, named innovator of the year in
the Town & Country Jewelry Awards. A great designer but this earring choice
was not a great statement of things to come.

The other cover on newsstands was no different in the
jewelry department. This time rose gold and jet earring by the same designer,
Vhernier.

There was something missing from the cover that I noticed
immediately, compared to last year. Here is the last year cover if you don’t
remember or if you haven’t read the post from last year.

See in the right-hand corner in red? It is the call out of
the Town & Country Jewelry Awards! When I first saw this magazine, I was
concerned that the awards were a one-time thing. For me that would be upsetting
since I just renewed so I could receive this issue! I think for the Jewelry
Awards Issue the accessories should be a bit bolder.

I was pleased to see a change in the voting. Instead of a
small panel like last time (where 2 of the judges also won in the Media
Category) this time more than 200 ballots were cast among Jewelry designers,
collectors, T&C editors, industry experts and influencers. I was not on
that list but the editor’s letter by Stellene Volandes mentioned the voting
logistics in the first line. I really think this is better than leaving it to a
select few that may have other interests involved. For me this issue got off to
a better start.

Emmanuel Tarpin behind the scenes from Instagram account

The Categories

A list of the winners to discuss below:

I like that there are 12 categories, not too many but not too few. I do subscribe for the jewelry so I want to see plenty of it. A nice addition to the magazine was some of the categories also have finalists. For colored stones Chopard won, below is a stunning and colorful pair of earrings. The runners up were Irene Neuwirth and Martin Katz.

Chopard Earrings

Some other categories to highlight:

Bulgari’s Wild Pop Collection: Bulgari is using more color in their creations and channeling the 1980’s. I was fortunate enough to walk by the New York store on 5th Avenue and catch some of their masterpieces.

Bulgari Necklace

Tiffany’s Save the Wild Collection: I have been watching this collection since it launched in 2017. Tiffany has animal themed jewelry like the elephant brooch below from their website, in which Tiffany is donating 100% of the profits to the Wildlife Conservation Network, which includes the Elephant Crisis Fund. You can learn more on their website. What I love about this collection is the price range $250-$35,000, so you do not need a lot of money to own a piece of jewelry that gives back to nature.

Tiffany Diamond Elephant Brooch

One category not listed is for social media influencers. Again,
I was glad to see the social media panelists no longer choosing the winners. I
think that category was unnecessary given how little is proven on how much
influence social media has on branding and shopping.

One more amazing Chopard piece from their website

Let me know your thoughts on the magazine. Is there a
category you would like to see? I would like a few emerging designers, Town and
Country does a lot with main stream, well known jewelry houses, that I think introducing
some new faces would help make the magazine feel like a better source of what
is happening in the world of jewelry. If you would like to see how to measure social
media and its influence in your business send me an email and we can talk about
your strategy and business goals. Return later as I get back into a more
regular schedule of blogging on Data in the Rough! Thank you for visiting!

We are in award season right now. Movie and music awards have been reported on. The Super Bowl has been played in a winner take all game. Even the jewelry industry bestowed some awards. These awards were acknowledged in Town and Country’s February issue, the first issue to have a jewelry awards section. My question is for all award ceremonies, why? These results can be subjective. A bad call from a referee or hint of cheating leaves questions for the fans and some fierce debates. Music and movies are like art, what determines the best story or actor? I feel like jewelry is the same way. If you are not listed in Town and Country are you less of a jeweler? So why did T&C try this and what can it mean for you as a reader or business person?

I have a few theories as to the benefit, that I will conclude with. First, I will look at T&C’s explanation of the creation of these awards. Then look at the types of awards and follow this by addressing the business side of T&C. I am focusing only on the current issue, February 2018.

Why T&C created these awards

If you are like me, when I get a magazine that has an article I want to read I go straight to that page. If you did that with this article, then you would see these awards were made to acknowledge the year’s most notable jewelry moments. A clear explanation of what to expect in the section but not the why. I went back to the letter from the editor to see what they had to add. Stellene Volandes, T&C’s Editor in Chief, focused her letter on the next generation and how the readers used the magazine to discover ‘jewelry they should collect now to hand down later.’ A nice thought but one I look at skeptically given tastes and trends that differ between generations. I think a better reason for these awards is to highlight the industry but is it purely for the readers?

What were the ‘Award’ Categories

There were 18 categories:

Red Carpet Award of the Year

Collections of the Year

Stones of the Year

Philanthropists of the Year

Diamonds of the Year

Green Award for Sustainability

Watches of the Year

Retail Innovation of the Year

Gold Designs of the Year

Breakthroughs of the Year

Collaborations of the Year

Jewelry Champions of the Year

Pearls of the Year

Innovations of the Year

Events of the Year

Rediscovery of the Year

Fashion House High Jewelry

Legends of the Year

I like that they had about retail innovation and collaborations, topics that need to be explored more in the industry. There were three winners for each category. So, you are looking at 54 winners. 54 designers/businesses that will get some recognition. But who sees it?

David Webb, Gold Hammered Earrings, Webb won in Gold Designs of the Year

T&C Business Side

The T&C media kit outlines the reader. They average 50 years of age and mostly female. For a business looking to reach a range of ages I would press for more details and a better breakdown of who is reading the publication.

My Opinions

So here we are at my analysis. After a brief look at the magazine and awards I think another piece is advertising. Of the 138 pages (front and back cover included), 54 pages were dedicated to advertisements. Of the 54 pages of ads, 33 were for jewelry. See the table below:

Over half of the Ads were for jewelry. I know T&C has lots of jewelry advertisements, but I would like to see if this issue boosted that group of Ads. For those paying for placement in the magazine I would be asking some of the questions above about what reach this would have and how it would benefit my business.

Alexandra Mor, won Innovators of the Year, for her use of the Tagua seed. Ring pictured is made of a Tagua seed with a pearl in center.

I have a few more points I could go into, but I want to stop here and get some feedback from you. Have you seen the issue? What were your thoughts? Do you think this is something Town and Country should continue to do? Return in the next week as I get back on a schedule of regular posting after my holiday hiatus. Thank you for reading Data in the Rough!

What does the end of summer mean for you? I have been traveling some and look forward to sharing that later in my posts. So the end of summer travel is approaching. Fall is almost here. So what does that mean for the jewelry industry and for you? It is the start of the upcoming holiday season! I am looking forward to the Fall fashion magazines, new jewelry collections and the auctions!

More specifically I am looking forward to the reopening of the Cartier Boutique in New York! For those that have been by Cartier on 52nd know that it has been under major renovations. Thankfully those renovations will soon be complete and you will be able to visit the store.

The September issue of Town and Country had focus of the Editor’s letter on the reopening and the story of how the mansion was first purchased by Cartier. I will be visiting when it reopens and reporting back.

I am also planning to continue my book reviews on jewelry topics.

I have many exciting posts planned for September. Some are of new launches of jewelry by friends, a social media series (how to improve your brand and focus), and events that celebrate events like a store opening. I would love to hear what you are looking forward to! I hope you come back soon and join my email list so that you can continue to learn about the ways data can improve your business and understanding of the jewelry industry.